The UK’s cost-effectiveness watchdog National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has delivered another blow to the developers of targeted cancer therapies by recommending against the use of four new kidney cancer drugs in the UK. This recommendation suggests that NICE is likely to look unfavorably on a number of other targeted therapies in development, severely limiting future growth of the targeted cancer therapies market in the UK.

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Eli Lilly has announced that it will hand over a large proportion of its R&D efforts to contract research organization Covance. The deal, which involves Covance acquiring Lilly’s 1,700-acre R&D site at Greenfield, is one of a number of major structural changes engineered by Lilly to improve its fiscal performance in the face of increasing market pressures, particularly the impact of generic drugs.

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Independent aggregator, Go Compare, announced the inclusion of five new home insurance providers on its panel. The aggregator entered the home insurance market in September 2007 and has since quadrupled its coverage. Aggregators have not been as prominent in this market as in private motor insurance, but such rapid expansion suggests they will soon have sufficient share to affect the market.

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Lending to consumers is set to contract by 13.5% in 2008. Lending markets are currently beset by high market uncertainties, with the ongoing credit crunch, falling house prices, rising arrears and repossessions, and indebted consumers struggling to find credit. In current uncertain market conditions, it is neither good to be a lender nor a borrower.

Continue reading “Gloomy Times Await UK Lenders and Borrowers” »

Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer has announced that it intends to make further changes to its R&D model after splitting its R&D division into small therapy area units. This is a much-needed step for the company, which desperately needs to increase its product pipeline. However, a further overhaul of R&D processes may be necessary as patent expirations and intense generic competition come ever closer.
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Having grown consistently over the past five years, the EU health & beauty (EU H&B) market now looks set to change.
Strong growth in the EU health & beauty market, particularly in new member states, has encouraged cross-border expansion of pan-European chains. While the likes of Schlecker and AS Watson have found the EU to be a land of opportunity, smaller players have struggled. Moreover, with the increasing presence of grocers, the concentration of power is set to change the EU H&B landscape. Continue reading “EU Health & Beauty Set for a Strong Year Ahead” »

Following Croatia’s announcement that it is looking to sell more of its stake in state oil company INA, MOL and OMV have both shown an interest. However, as the companies attempt to try to assert de facto dominance in south-eastern Europe by buying a controlling stake in the Croatian oil major, MOL’s expansion plans may be hampered by OMV’s ongoing efforts to purchase its Hungarian counterpart.

Continue reading “MOL and OMV Continue to Struggle for Regional Pre-eminence as they Vie for Control of Croatia’s INA” »

OMV, Rompetrol and Petrom are to build 10 new service stations on the Sun Motorway in Romania. Although these additional sites alone will see the total number of motorway sites more than double, the vast motorway construction project that is currently underway could see a further 87 stations added between now and 2016.

The Romanian Ministry of Transport has announced that 10 motorway stations will be built along the Sun Motorway (A2), more than doubling the number of motorway service stations from the current eight. OMV, Rompetrol and Petrom are the companies that have won the concessions, which will run for a maximum of 29 years. Upon signing the contract they were obliged to set up temporary service stations within 60 days, after which they will have four months in which to establish permanent structures. Continue reading “Romania to Build 10 New Motorway Service Stations” »

Gazprom Marketing and Trading has taken a major step towards delivering smart metering by acquiring an equity stake in TruRead. The rationale is to raise Gazprom’s presence in the UK gas market and ultimately expand its UK customer portfolio. At a superficial level, this is a win-win situation for its UK customers; however, there are deeper strategic implications if other firms fail to follow. Continue reading “Gazprom Gets Smart” »

Consumers are increasing their on-trade drinking occasions, despite worsening economic conditions. Consumers are increasing their visits to bars, cafes, restaurants and hotels during the week, engaging in more moderate week-round drinking and moving away from so-called weekend session drinking, according to a new report. In order to capitalize on these increased drinking occasions, the on-trade sector will need to offer exclusive products, encouraging consumers to trade up.

Despite the gloomy economic conditions across much of the globe, and stiff competition from the off-trade sector, consumers are increasing their visits to on-trade establishments. Indeed, according to the report, the total number of on-trade occasions is showing modest growth in Europe, the US and Australia, where they are forecast to increase at a CAGR 0.8%, 2.4% and 1.9%, respectively, between 2007 and 2012. Continue reading “Midweek On-Trade Alcoholic Drinking has Risen despite Credit Crunch” »